Steel standards are instrumental in classifying, evaluating, and specifying the material, chemical, mechanical, and metallurgical properties

of the different ty pes of steels, which are primarily used in the production of mechanical componen ts, industrial parts, and construction elements. The most widely used standard s pecifications for steel products in the United States are those published by AST M (American Society for Testing and Materials). ASTM specifications represent a consensus among producers, specifiers, fabricato rs, and users of steel mill products. In many cases, the dimensions, tolerances, limits, and restrictions in the ASTM specifications are similar to or the same as the corresponding items in the standard practices contained in the AISI Steel Products Manuals. Many of the ASTM specifications have been adopted by the American Society of Mec hanical Engineers (ASME) with little or no modification; ASME uses the prefix S and the ASTM designation for these specifications. For example, ASME-SA213 and A STM A 213 are identical. ASTMs designation system for metals consists of a letter (A for ferrous materials ) followed by an arbitrary sequentially assigned number. These designations ofte n apply to specific products, for example A548 is applicable to cold-heading qua lity carbon steel wire for tapping or sheet metal screws. Metric ASTM standards have a suffix letter M. Examples of the ASTM ferrous metal designation system, describing its use of spe cification numbers and letters, are shown below: Example - ASTM A 582/A 582M-95b (2000), Grade 303Se-Free-Machining Stainless Ste el Bars: A describes a ferrous metal, but does not sub classify it as cast iron, carbon st el, alloy steel, tool steel, or stainless steel; 582 is a sequential number without any relationship to the metals properties; M indicates that the standard A582M is written in rationalized SI units (the M c omes from the word Metric), hence together 582/A582M includes both inch-pound an d SI units; 95 indicates the year of adoption or last revision and a letter b following the year indicates the third revision of the standard in1995; (2000), a number in parentheses, indicates the year of last re-approval; Grade 300Se indicates the grade of the steel, and in this case, it has a Se (sel enium) addition. Within the steel industry, the terms Grade, Type, and Class are generally define d as follows: Grade is used to describe chemical composition; Type is used to de fine the deoxidation practice; and Class is used to indicate other characteristi cs such as strength level or surface finish. However, within the ASTM standards, these terms were adopted and used to identify a particular metal within a metal standard and used without any strict definition. Although there are differences between the ASTM and traditional definitions of these terms ASTM have applied s ome loose rules to the use of this terminology in their designation system :